FR Scales of War

Rathoraiax

Description:

From the back of Rathoraiax, his great red dragon steed, General Zithiruun proved an unstoppable force—a champion among a race of champions.

And then the great General Zithiruun took on a foe beyond even his own prowess. That it was a dragon, a dragon far greater than Rathoraiax, everyone knows, but tales of the confrontation differ as to whether it was a black wyrm, one of the fearsome scourge dragons, or something else entirely. But while not everyone knows precisely what it was Zithiruun faced, everyone knows what happened as a result.

A hideous burst of something—acid, perhaps, or pure necrotic energy—ripped the life from the red dragon Rathoraiax, shredding flesh and obliterating entire portions of the beast. And it was this attack that felled Zithiruun as well. It stripped the strength from his limbs, rotted bits of flesh and even weakened bone. Any lesser warrior would have died in that hideous moment, but the general clung to life through sheer force of stubborn, malignant will.

As a sign of his shame, Zithiruun was never granted the honor of a new dragon mount. Rather, he must make do with the animated body of Rathoraiax. This is yet another insult that burns in Zithiruun’s craw, yet he’s too intelligent a fighter to abandon a useful weapon purely out of spite.

Rathoraiax is clearly dead; most of his scales are a dull, rotten gray, gleaming with a faint red only in the brightest light. Many are missing completely, revealing desiccated, leathery skin. The entire top half of Rathoraiax’s snout was destroyed in the attack that slew him. This left behind a “shelf ” of his lower jaw sticking out from beneath the broken skull around his eyes, fangs protruding upward, and a dull, dead tongue lashing slowly above.